You cannot take TikTok too seriously
With the chaos of the recent election, news, whether true or false, has been coming out from every corner of the media. As it is vital to make informed decisions on who to vote for and how to stay safe during the pandemic, it is just as important to get information from multiple, credible news sources. Unfortunately, there are people who have used media such as TikTok to come to a political decision based on biased and unreliable news.
While TikTok may be a great platform to use for humor and comedy, it is not the most dependable source when it comes to crucial events and topics that happen in society. TikTok can have credible information, but using only this platform will not inform or educate people accurately. People need to understand that in order to actually be educated on a certain topic, they need to dive as deep as they can and research as much as possible.
Politically, there are plenty of satire videos that are intended for humor. However, people have taken these videos seriously and believed what was said or mentioned. In this scenario, it is important to always fact-check on what one may just have “learned.” If the extra research is not done to formulate reasonable conclusions, then people will be misinformed and may spread fake news. This creates more unnecessary confusion that nobody needs right now to safely maneuver through a crazy year.
Many TikToks have blown up about politicians on either side saying seemingly unjust things that are actually just out of context. One video of what seemed to be Joe Biden incorrectly reciting the Pledge of Allegiance was posted and went viral, but when viewed in further context, it was revealed that Biden was not saying the pledge, but rather giving a speech about his bipartisan beliefs. If a person were to see this and be concerned, it is vital for one to further research this clip before posting or sharing it elsewhere.
If people use multiple platforms and sources to gather information, then they have a wide range of resources they can use to come to an educated and unbiased conclusion. Almost all news media have a bias, even if it is slight. That is why people should look at the left, the right and everything in between to get an even ground on what is opinion and what is fact. Next time you are scrolling on TikTok and you see a political video that sways you, just take five minutes to fact check that on other non-biased sources before you help spread more fake news.
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